Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations

Report: Ohio’s Medicaid Costs $2B Below Estimates

The report found that Medicaid costs, even with the state's expansion and increase in eligible beneficiaries, were 7.6 percent less that projected for the fiscal year ending in June. Meanwhile, Georgia's health care agency has all but rejected Grady Health System's proposed waiver to cover more uninsured people. News outlets in Kansas, Maine and Iowa also report on Medicaid-related developments.

The Associated Press:
Report: Medicaid Costs Ohio $2B Less Than Expected
Ohio’s total Medicaid spending was nearly $2 billion below estimates for the fiscal year that ended in June, despite more newly eligible enrollees under an expansion of the program, according to a new report. The report released Wednesday shows total Medicaid spending was $23.5 billion — 7.6 percent less than projected. Medicaid Director John McCarthy told The Columbus Dispatch that recent initiatives contributed to the savings, such as shorter nursing-home stays, expanded home-based care for seniors, expanded managed care and capitated reimbursement policies, or pay per patient rather than per patient visit. (8/13)

Georgia Health News:
State Outlines Arguments Against Medicaid 'Waiver'
The state’s main health care agency has all but ruled out Grady Health System’s “waiver’’ proposal to cover more uninsured Georgians. ... Such a move would fall far short of Medicaid expansion under the Affordable Care, which would increase the number of low-income people eligible for the Medicaid program. More than half the states have approved expansion, but Georgia leaders say it would be too costly. (Miller, 8/13)

The Kansas Health Institute News Service:
Kansans With Brain Injuries Finding It Harder To Get State Help
An effort by state officials to keep Kansans with non-traumatic brain injuries from participating in a special Medicaid program is making it harder for those who qualify for the services to get them, advocates say. At issue is a little-known Medicaid program that helps people suffering from brain injuries caused by external trauma, such as car accidents, falls or assaults. It’s a Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) waiver program, meaning it’s primarily designed to provide services to people in their homes and communities rather than institutions. Over the last five years the number of Kansans served by the TBI waiver has been as low as 643 and as high as 748. In addition to things like personal care and meal delivery for those who need it, the waiver also provides a host of rehabilitative services. (Marso, 8/13)

KCUR:
Hospital Leader Challenges Brownback On Innovation, Medicaid Comments
Asked about his continuing opposition to Medicaid expansion, [Kansas Gov. Sam] Brownback downplayed the importance of the issue, telling reporters that innovation is more important to hospital finances than the billions of additional federal dollars that expansion would provide. Tom Bell, the president and CEO of the hospital association, disagreed and told the governor so late last week in a strongly worded letter, which, among other things, said that expansion and innovation are complementary goals. (Marso, 8/13)

Bangor (Maine) Daily News:
DHHS Missed Chance To Appeal Loss Of Medicaid Reimbursements To Riverview
A federal judge on Thursday ruled that Maine’s Department of Health and Human Services missed the deadline to appeal a decision intended to cut off Medicaid reimbursement for patients at Riverview Psychiatric Center in Augusta. Riverview lost its certification from the federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services in September 2013 due to a range of issues, the most serious of which involved the use of Tasers and restraints on patients. (Harrison, 8/13)

The Associated Press:
Iowa Nursing Facility Chain Reaches Settlement Over Payments
A nursing facility chain in Iowa that was accused of submitting inaccurate cost reports for Medicaid payments will pay more than $415,000 as part of a settlement. The U.S. Attorney's Office for the southern and northern districts of Iowa said in a news release Thursday that Signature Care Centers, LLC, and its seven related nursing facilities in Iowa have agreed to pay the money to resolve civil allegations involving Medicaid overpayments for the 2008 and 2010 fiscal years. (8/13)

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